Friday Akor, a native of Benue State, is dismayed that his 13-year-old daughter in the custody of an orphanage belonging to the Lagos State Government is carrying a pregnancy.

Taken to Lagos in December 2024 to stay with her aunt, Faith Amodu, she was enrolled at Dan Esther Nursery and Primary School situated a stone’s throw from Faith’s residence at No 21, Joseph Onifade Street, Aboru, Lagos.

A Primary 3 pupil, Blessing’s story took a dramatic turn in June 2025 when she suddenly disappeared from home for four days.

Findings by neighbours and her guardian later revealed that she was taken away by a young woman described as a neighbour.

The case was reported at the Oke-Odo Police Station, following which the woman in question was invited to the station to produce the girl, but she was said to have declined.

In the heat of police insistence on arresting the woman if she did not return the girl, she was said to have taken Blessing to the Lagos State Ministry of Youth and Social Development, Alausa, Ikeja, claiming that Blessing was being maltreated by her guardian.

The matter took a twist after the guardian and a community leader visited the ministry in search of Blessing but were directed to report at Alausa Police Station.

Initially, the police wanted to detain her guardian, Faith, at the instance of the ministry. She was, however, released after explaining that Blessing was enrolled in a school and was not maltreated.

It was said that the Ministry refused to release Blessing to Faith and the community leader and demanded family photographs confirming that the Blessing was related to her guardian.

But despite producing the photographs, the Ministry allegedly remained obstinate, demanding the presence of the girl’s family members. This prompted her father to come to Lagos, but Blessing was still not released to her family members.

Instead, she was taken to a state-owned orphanage in Isolo part of Lagos.

Matters became complicated after several fruitless visits and the discovery in December that the 13-year-old girl was pregnant. Her father, who spoke with our correspondent, said Blessing was about five months pregnant.

He said: “I had to come down to Lagos from my base in Benue State when I received the news that my daughter had not been released to her guardian who is also my sister, and one of my older brothers who represented the family.

“To my surprise, we discovered that she was already pregnant when I saw her.

“I was told at the Ministry that an unnamed person impregnated my daughter at a government orphanage she was taken to, and I feel bad about the development.

“I will be going to the orphanage located around Isolo on Tuesday, January 13, because I want to know exactly what happened to my daughter, as she was not pregnant when she was taken to government custody.”

Blessing’s guardian, Faith Amodu, who works in a human hair production firm at Ikeja, in a brief telephone conversation with our correspondent on Wednesday evening, confirmed the case and promised to call back in to provide further details. She, however, had not fulfilled her promise at press time.

Speaking on the matter, a community leader and chairman of Ayedade Community Development Association (CDA), Aboru, Pastor Obagbolabo Orefuyi, recalled how the matter started and the turn of events.

Pastor Orefuyi said: “The girl, Blessing, was brought to Lagos sometime in December 2024 and she stayed with her aunt named Faith Amodu.

“She is a Primary 3 pupil of a private school in the neighborhood of Aboru.

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“Around June 2025, Blessing disappeared from home for four days without a trace, and everyone in the neighbourhood searched for her until we found out that she was taken away by a lady who lives at nearby Adeshina Bamgboye Street.

“We went to the Oke-Odo Divsional Police Headquarters to report the case. The lady’s phone was tracked and she was asked to come to the station with the girl she took away from home.

“But she refused, saying that she had also reported the case at a police station in the Ajah area of Lagos.

“Later, we got a report that she had taken Blessing to the department handling child maltreatment at the Lagos State Ministry of Youth and Social Development, apparently to escape arrest.

“She lied to the Ministry that she rescued the girl because she was not in school and that she was being maltreated by her guardian, who she claimed was not Blessing’s relative.

“We visited the Ministry and were asked to proceed to the Alausa Police Division to document the case.

“To our shock, the police attempted to detain Faith Amodu at the instance of the Ministry, based on false accusations.

“Eventually, Faith was released and when we got back to the Ministry, Faith was asked to provide family photographs to confirm her relationship and a prominent member of her family.

“The photographs were provided and the girl’s uncle even came from their hometown in Benue State and visited the Ministry, yet, the girl was not released but was instead taken to a state-owned orphanage.”

It was in the heat of the stalemate that Blessing’s father came to Lagos and visited the Ministry of Youth and Social Development only to discover his daughter’s controversial pregnancy.

“Blessing’s father came to Lagos after he was told that the state government was not willing to release her.

“Surprisingly, when he had access to her daughter, he found her pregnant and the pregnancy as of December 2025 was more than four months old.

“The Ministry had no tangible explanation about the circumstances surrounding Blessing’s pregnancy.

“The only explanation offered was that she was an hyperactive girl who moved from one office to another in custody as was caught on camera at the orphanage,” Orefuyi added.

When our correspondent visited the house where Blessing resided with her guardian until her disappearance from home, her guardian was not available.

“However, sources described Blessing as a good girl whose future is being fractured by cirunmstances beyond her understanding.

“Blessing is a good girl. She does not deserve the kind of situation she has found herself.

“While the lady who took her away and later dumped her with the Lagos State Ministry of Youth and Social Development has a blame in this matter, the state government takes a greater blame for mishandling the matter to the extent that the teenage girl is now carrying an unwanted pregnancy while in government’s custody.

“It’s a big shame,” the source who is a neighbour said.

Responding to an inquiry sent to his WhatsApp by our correspondent, the Head of Public Affairs Department at the Lagos State Ministry of Youth and Social Development, Mr. Gabriel Esiwele promised to revert to our correspondent. He however did not do so at press time. (The Nation)

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